Let Slip The Dogs

In book 5 of the Francis Bacon Mysteries the story takes place at Richmond Palace in 1591. Courtiers and titled ladies are in each other's arms while Tom Claraday and Trumpet conclude their plans to fool Trumpet's soon-to-be husband on the wedding night.  They will get him drunk and substitute a lookalike in the bed chamber while Trumpet meets Tom in his room. Even the main character Francis Bacon will get involved in a private liaison. However, when a young man who is known to collect gossip is found dead in the Queen's orchard there is only the question of whether he was murdered to keep a romantic secret or a political one. Bacon does not want to get involved. He is particularly bothered in this installment of the series by not having a position or patron and has considered being bought by a foreign entity for money.

I enjoyed this book but would have to say that it is my least favorite so far in this series.  This just goes to show how well the earlier books were written.  The actual murder did not occur at least until a third into the book with sex taking prominence in the plot. It seemed out of character for Francis Bacon to get involved in a sexual liaison and to be so depressed about his finances that he considered committing a treasonous act just for money. Everyone gets down in the dumps and does stupid things but not in a mystery series. Also, the investigation of the murder did not involve Bacon because he was busy with his pity party. It was done by Tom and Trumpet talking between themselves. They didn't interview witnesses, etc... The main character/sleuth should be the one doing the sleuthing and this was a mistake on the author's part.

Let Slip the Dogs was a departure from the mystery formula that the author has followed in the series. Let's see what she does with the final book in the series.

The Library of Legends

I have been patiently waiting for Janie Chang to publish her next book since I finished reading Dragon Springs Road last year. Last week I received an advanced review copy of The Library of Legends from William Morrow through the Early Reviewer's Program at Librarything. The book will be published on May 12, 2020. The story takes place in China in 1937.

When Japanese bombs begin falling on the City of Nanking, nineteen-year-old Hu Lian and her classmates at Minghua University are ordered to flee. Lian and a convoy of students, professors, and staff must walk a thousand miles to the safety of China's western provinces, their journey under constant threat of aerial attack from the Japanese. More than refugee lives are at risk. The students are carrying a priceless treasure, a five hundred year old collection of myths and folklore called the Library of Legends. Their duty to safeguard the Library forms unexpected bonds between them. Lian finds friendship and romance with the wealthy and handsome Liu Shaoming. After one classmate is murdered and another is arrested, Lian realizes that she must escape before a family secret is revealed, putting herself in danger of being arrested also.

I enjoyed this book but at the midway point I got bored with the students constantly marching through China. Not much happened with the characters at this point in the story to carry the plot forward while the students walked for hours and then rested. There were approximately 60-75 pages that were sluggish. The story soon picked up when a professor and then a communist student were murdered. In addition, there is an element of fantasy in the plot. The Library of Legends has a folklore story about celestial beings, gods and guardian spirits living on earth to help humans. There are several of these guardian spirits woven into the plot. I wouldn't normally like the fusion of the historical fiction and fantasy genres but it fits the setting of this book. It takes place in China which,  even today, has a focus on ancestor worship.

The author chose a great historical subject to write about. In 1937 China, when the Second Sino Japanese War broke out, the universities were evacuated. The students, called liuwang, school administrators and professors all walked through China to safer areas where they could continue their school activities. They carried luggage, lab equipment, library books and kitchen ware. They stopped often at Buddhist and Daoist temples where they could rest for a few days before resuming their walking. The author chose this subject because her father was a liuwang from Nanking University.

4 out of 5 stars.

Introduction to the Greek New Testament

Dirk Jongkind of Tyndale House at Cambridge wrote this small, 124 page book, chronicling how the editors at Tyndale House produced a new version of the Greek New Testament. You do not need to know how to read Greek to read this book. The book is just an explanation of how the new edition was put together. The author introduces the reader to manuscripts, textual criticism theory, and textual variation all in a very readable work.

The author provides background information on how and why decisions were made to use certain words over others.  In addition, the editors rejected the use of the Textus Receptus and the Byzantine Text, also known as the Majority Text, as their source text because those texts were from later time periods. I was quite surprised by this as I thought that most Bible translations used one or the other as their source text. Tyndale House used a Greek New Testament text from Samuel Prideaux Tregelles. Tregelles lived in the 1800s and produced his own Greek New Testament that was based on ancient manuscripts. The author also discussed the differences between a translation, an edition and an original. A section on how to spot an error in a manuscript was interesting as well as another section discussing decisions on what to print.

I do not read Greek. What will I remember most from this book? Probably that the early church scribes used what is now called nomina sacra to abbreviate the words for God, Jesus, Christ and Lord. The scribes would only write the first and last letters of those words and write a line over the top of them to connect the letters. Some of the early manuscripts that were analyzed to produce this new edition of the Greek New Testament had nomina sacra writings on them. These contracted words are still seen in Greek icons today.

This was a great book introducing a new edition of a Bible. I wish all translation committees would publish a book like this one so readers would know how decisions were made on what to include and what to exclude.

5 out of 5 stars.

British Ice

British Ice is a fictionalized account of a commissioner's year on Reliance Island off the northern coast of Canada. At the time of Commissioner Harrison Fleet's visit, the island was part of the British Arctic Territory. British Ice is a graphic novel. It was published two weeks ago by Top Shelf Productions.

Since the plot revolves around the setting, it will need some explanation.  The British Arctic Territory is an imagined territory that consists of one main island, Reliance, and a few smaller ones including rocks and underwater formations. It was discovered in the early 1800s by Captain Netherton and the main island was named after his ship. It has remained British land since its discovery and has been constantly manned by a member of the British High Commission even though it is in remote, freezing location. The artwork contributes to the setting. It has been colored entirely in an icy blue tone to match the setting. Drawings in comic strip panels complete the look of this book.

Upon his arrival on Reliance Island, Fleet immediately realizes he cannot speak the native language. He soon meets Ana and Abel, the Community Engagement Officer, both whom treat him with plenty of distrust and sarcasm. After snowmobiling to Netherton's home, a townhome, Fleet settles in for what is supposed to be a four year post. Inside he finds a few items owned by the prior commissioner, who disappeared without a trace. The natives refuse to communicate with him so Fleet must rely upon his pilot, Ana and Abel to determine why the indigenous people have always mistrusted the British.

I did not expect this book to be a mystery but love that it is a historical mystery. Fleet did an investigation into the background of the natives anger toward British rule and was surprised at what he discovered. It wasn't just a reaction to colonial rule. I won't be a spoiler but the answer to that question connects to the first chapter. He also asked plenty of questions about his predecessor. Why did he disappear?  Fleet was able to figure this out after snowmobiling around the island looking for clues.

I was impressed with the author's creation of the setting. He went into great detail in the beginning of the book to tell the reader about the geography of the area, the person who discovered it and British colonialism. Then he began the story.  Incredible!

5 out of 5 stars.

Forbidden

Forbidden is a novel that takes place in twelfth century England. Richard Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Kent, is a jealous man who does not trust his pregnant wife Beatrice. After his brother Edward, prior of Canterbury, falsely claims that Beatrice has not been faithful Richard decides to remove the child she bears from his home. He refuses to pay for the bastard's food and education. Richard takes the newborn away to a monastery, never telling Beatrice where the child is. Before he leaves, Beatrice wraps her own mother's ruby cross necklace around the baby's neck as a remembrance of her.

At St. John's Cluniac Monastery in Lewes a baby is found in a basket by a child, Gweneth. Gwen brings the child to Prior Bartholomew who expects that another unmarried woman has dropped off a baby. Usually the mother returns in a fortnight to reclaim the child but not this time. Gwen wants to name the baby Nicodemus after the Bible character and his formal name becomes Nicodemus St. John. Nick St. John grows up alongside Gwen, her mother Agnes, and Simon who both work at the monastery. His best friend Jeremy's mother works there also. He and Jeremy both have childhood crushes on Gwen that carry on into their teenage years. However, when Jeremy talks Nick into taking monastic vows with him to be Templar Knights, thoughts of Gwen have to be suppressed.

There is nothing like a good family fight. The sibling rivalry between the Fitzwilliam brothers reached epic proportions in Forbidden. Not content to just win the fight, the brothers need to destroy each other. If destroying other family relationships helps bring that to fruition, they do so. The characters in this novel were fabulous. There were several villains, which added to the excitement. Nick's father is identified but how the father accepted the news did not seem realistic. The men who could have been Nick's father were emotional and easily angered but when the actual father realized his paternity, he accepted it point blank. The only part that I did not like was the ending. It was too sad for this love story.

Wrap-Up of the 2019 My Kind of Mystery Reading Challenge

I read 20 books for the My Kind of Mystery Reading Challenge during this past year. There were no required number of books to read, which is what I prefer in a challenge.  No pressure! Below are links to the books that I read for the challenge:

The New Girl
Brewed Awakening
Genesis
Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry
Angel's Share
Publish and Perish
The Widow's Guild
Bad to the Bone
The Time for Murder is Meow
The Persian Gamble
The President is Missing
Saving Meghan
Pandemic
Broken Bone China
The Bengal Identity
A Plain Vanilla Murder
A Body in Barcelona
The Malta Exchange
Harvest of Secrets
Murder by Misrule

Favorite Book:  Genesis by Robin Cook

Second Favorite Book:  Brewed Awakening by Cleo Coyle

Least Favorite Book:  A Body in Barcelona by Jason Webster

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge

The Cloak and Dagger Challenge is a new (to me) mystery book challenge. You can join at several reading levels but I will be selecting the Detective Level and will read between 16 and 25 books. The challenge runs the 2020 calendar year. All mystery genres/subgenres count for the challenge.

This challenge replaces the My Kind of Mystery challenge that I have participated in for several years. This challenge is not returning in 2020.